How to Make a Scientific Volcano Without Baking Soda at Home
The natural phenomena known as volcanoes are beautifully explosive examples of the power of nature. Often, kids make volcanoes for science fair projects using baking soda and an acid such as vinegar or lemon juice, but if these are not present in the home as raw materials, another option is hydrogen peroxide and yeast. Along with the materials that form the flowing lava, you'll need stable components to make up the structure of the volcano itself, but these components are easily found in most homes.
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Things You'll Need
- 4 oz. 3 percent hydrogen peroxide
- 2 oz. dish soap
- Red food coloring
- Straw
- 1 packet active yeast
- Warm water
- Sandbox
- Plastic soda bottle
- 2 plastic jugs
Instructions
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1
Dig a depression in the middle of the sandbox that is large enough to hold the plastic soda bottle comfortably. Pile up the sand on the edges of the depression to cover the sides of the bottle, and leave the top open. Create channels down the sides of the volcano for the lava to flow down.
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2
Mix up the dish soap in a plastic jug with the hydrogen peroxide using a straw. Add enough food coloring, such as three drops, to make the solution red enough to look like lava.
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3
Transfer this mixture into the plastic soda bottle inside the volcano. Leave an inch or two of room in the bottle, for the next part of the volcano process, the yeast, to fit in.
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4
Open the packet of yeast and sprinkle it into another plastic jug. Stir in some warm water from the faucet and allow the yeast to sit for five minutes. The yeast is alive, and it needs time and water to become active. It is the yeast's biological activity which converts the hydrogen peroxide and dish soap mixture into foaming lava.
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5
Pour the yeast solution into the hydrogen peroxide mixture inside the volcano. Stand back and see the lava erupt out of the volcano and down the sides.
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Tips & Warnings
As a twist on the traditional above-ground volcano, the Scientific American Frontiers Archives on the PBS website says that you can use the lava materials as part of an underwater volcano. In this case, you need a fishbowl filled with water and a small jar. If you puncture holes in the lid, place the yeast, hydrogen peroxide and dish soap inside the jar, close the lid and drop it into the water, an undersea eruption will result.
The yeast for this experiment needs to be alive, so only use unopened yeast packets and check that the yeast is still within its use-by date before using it as lava.
References
- Photo Credit NA/AbleStock.com/Getty Images
